Baylies, Mary K. Development, Function and Repair of the Muscle Cell Project Summary: This application requests partial support to conduct the international meeting, Development, Function and Repair of the Muscle Cell. This meeting is part of the Frontiers in Myogenesis series, which is sponsored by the Society for Muscle Biology. This conference series has been held triennially for more than 20 years. This specific meeting will be held June 4-8, 2012 on the campus of New York University at the Kimmel Center in Manhattan, New York. We expect approximately 350 participants from around the world. The Development, Function and Repair of the Muscle Cell conference is timely and significant for three reasons: 1) the studies of embryonic and adult myogenesis and muscle development and regeneration are seeing a rich convergence in genes and mechanisms. This conference will serve as a platform to highlight key similarities in these processes with a view to the understanding of muscle disease; 2) the emerging areas in the regulation of muscle development include nuclear organization and chromatin remodeling during muscle specification and differentiation, RNA regulation, cell-cell fusion, muscle cell architecture including nuclear and mitochondrial positioning, muscle cell interactions with nerve and tendon cells, and muscle stem cell activation and use for repair. This meeting will focus and discuss these areas with leading experts from around the world; and (3) this meeting is placing a unique emphasis upon inviting key investigators on the cutting edge of cell biological research outside, but complementary, to the muscle field. The goal is to stimulate cross-disciplinary collaborations for the muscle field to address issues in the field that are emerging and promise to advance the field. The overall objective of this meeting is to bring together experts in developmental, cellula and molecular biology, adult muscle biology, human genetics and translational research significant for muscle disease to stimulate research and foster new collaborations at both the basic and translational levels. In addition, we will focus on recent advances in the regulatory mechanisms in muscle specification, muscle differentiation, muscle regeneration, muscle stem cell biology and emphasize how these advances inform potential therapies for muscle disease. Seven plenary sessions presenting 62 speakers (20 to be selected from submitted abstracts) at the senior, mid-career and junior levels will address: Origins, Patterning and Behaviors of Muscle Progenitors; Transcriptional Control of Myogenesis and Muscle Progenitors' Identity; Muscle Differentiation; Interaction of Muscle Cells with its Environment; Adult Muscle Progenitors, Satellite cells: Specification and Contribution to Muscle Repair; Muscle Size Regulation; and Therapeutic Interventions to Human Muscle Disease. Three dedicated poster sessions that feature these and related topics will be held. Significantly, the participants of thi conference represent interdisciplinary groups that will afford a comprehensive analysis and integration of recent discoveries in the field. In addition, the conference will promote cross-fertilization of ideas and collaborative interactions, particularly from scientists working on the leading edge of cell biology. We expect that the major advances in muscle development, muscle cell biology, gene regulation, muscle stem cells and regeneration and muscle disease that have taken place since the previous Frontiers in Myogenesis conference will make this upcoming meeting in New York an essential gathering for investigators across these areas of muscle biology. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Baylies, Mary K. Development, Function and Repair of the Muscle Cell Project Narrative This conference will provide a novel platform for the interaction of experts and trainees in genetics, molecular, cellular and developmental biology of muscle and in translational research significant to muscle disease. The meeting will place additional importance upon inviting key investigators on the cutting edge of cell biological research outside, but complementary, to the muscle field. The goal is to stimulate cross-disciplinary collaborations for the muscle field to address issues in the field that are emerging and promise to advance the field. The meeting will promote discussion and dissemination of recently published and unpublished data pertinent to the cellular and molecular regulation of muscle development and homeostasis in the embryo and the adult; how these processes go awry in muscle disease and how knowledge of normal muscle formation and homeostasis may be exploited in muscle disease therapies.